A Surprise for Margo
by White Shade
Summary: Gru is hiding something in the basement. Edith and Agnes don't even notice, but Margo isn't falling for his diversions.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

There was a certain darkness that haunted her air. She felt it wherever she went, and each time she would get out of her bed at night, the feeling would get stronger. The thoughts brooded in her mind, but she dare not say anything. There was a doubt she could feel about her instincts, knowing that her instincts haven't always been the most accurate, and she also thought if she were wrong about this, Edith and Agnes would ward her off forever.

Margo took another deep sigh in her bed, watching her chest heave and fall as she shifted her legs from under the covers to find another cold spot. Their room was exceedingly burning for whatever reason tonight...as it had for the past month. Not that Agnes noticed or Edith cared, but Margo took notice of every change around her. Gru was hiding something, maybe. Maybe not. Margo would toss and turn from the thoughts, and this was just another night.

She took her glasses from the small nightstand to stare at the moon, finally back in its proper placement. The room was filled with a complete stillness, so she could feel and hear her own heart beating lively within her gentle chest. It was a familiar beat, something to tell her that she was alive and that it was true, someone did want her and she was no longer alone in the world. However, there was even a doubt there. Gru denied her once, and the feeling never healed.

_He could do it again whenever he wanted_, Margo recognized that power, but she also knew how much she meant to Gru; how much all of them meant to him. Gru in turn meant a lot to her, being the first person to ever adopt all three of them at once. She had been fortunate to be with her sisters still and to have survived Vector's "wrath" as he worded the situation once.

It was always strange for Margo to think of Gru as a villain because she didn't see it until too late. She'd been sitting in the box of shame, silent, thinking about all that stuff in his lab, and when she recognized the large TV from time square, she knew Gru had been something made for trouble. Forgetting it all seemed to be easier and that is what she did. Edith was just disappointed and Agnes didn't quite understand the entirety of the situation, claiming she just missed Gru.

Being the oldest, Margo always worried for her sisters, especially Agnes. She would believe anything anyone told her, and that was dangerous to Margo. Finally, her bare feet hit the cold, wood floor. The room was far too hot and the moon was becoming a strain on her eyes. Quietly, Margo shuffled along the floor, glancing back at Edith and Agnes. As usual, when she opened the door, there was a minion.

Their eyes met; they'd been through this before. Margo never knew his name, but by now the circumstance was a silent understanding. The minion knew the drill since the first night she left the room: she would go to the kitchen, grab some water, stare at the walls of Gru's eccentric collections, and then stare off into the distance as her eyes focused on the button that would launch her into Gru's lab. There were nights she could hear him working down there.

"What is he doing down there?" she whispered to the minion. This was their first verbal exchange in two weeks.

"Ee pono," the minion shrugged. Margo sighed, walking solemnly to the kitchen for no one but herself. She took her regular blue glass, the one she always used when it was clean, and watched in a daze as the crystal liquid fell gracefully into the glass until she pulled away. Everything went dark again, and so she took to her routine and sat on a kitchen chair, perhaps the same one as the night before, perhaps not.

It was much cooler out in the kitchen, which Margo quickly grew to like. A yawn escaped her, but she paid no mind, staring at the glass, intently thinking about Gru. What could he possibly be doing down there? He was done the villain stuff, right? There were nights when she almost went down there, but then rebelled against it.

Tonight was different...Margo was just aching to know what was going on. The minion pulled at her wrist.

"I want to know," she whispered. "If you don't like me going down there, then _you_ come back." At this proposal, the minion stopped, one finger in the air, jaw dropped as if about to make a suggestion. That one seemed to be good enough.

"Ew poko," his said, making his way to Gru's chair. Margo sighed as he disappeared into the basement, and she set her glass out by the sink as she'd done before going back to sleep.

* * *

By morning, Gru was chipper, as usual, but Margo wasn't buying any of that today. Edith and Agnes got ready for school while Margo slowly gathered her things and placed them into her backpack. This year, Margo took a separate bus from her sisters. She was entering high school...part time. Her classes were going so well, her math and language teachers referred her to a higher class level. So, part time, she was supposed to be taking two classes at the high school while excelling at the middle school level in other subjects.

...It was awkward to say the least.

"Margo? Are you ready for school?" Gru called from the kitchen. Margo pushed her glasses up on her face, yawned and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"What are you doing down there?" Margo asked, walking into the kitchen.

"What?" Gru was taken aback by her accusing tone of voice. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought you were done with all that villain stuff...So, what are you doing down there? I can hear you ya know," Margo said.

Gru made an amusing sound with his lips.

"Pft, Margo," he said. "I'm not up to anything evil. I quit all that stuff, you know that honey."

"Then, what are you doing?"

"Stuff, very important things," Gru said. She sighed.

"I'm getting old for that excuse. That's what you tell Agnes when she asks you to play with her," Margo narrowed her eyes.

"I'm working," Gru said. "What more is there to be said?"

"That's what you tell Edith when she says that your previous excuse is what you give Agnes," Margo crossed her her arms. She wouldn't give this up.

Finally, Gru sighed.

"All right," he said finally. "You got me. I'm working on something very big. If you reeeeaaallly want to see it, I can only show you two parts of it. But, you cannot tell your sisters."

Margo's face altered. Couldn't tell her sisters? This would be on her mind all day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Margo returned home from school first, which felt strange without her sisters. High school got out the earliest, began the earliest, and middle school started later so the schedule was a little messy. Regardless, Margo had no homework, as expected on the first day, just a bunch of paperwork for Gru to sign (possibly more than once).

She took out her ocean folder and set the papers on the kitchen table, knowing Gru would see it. Not seeing him anywhere in sight, Margo decided to continue reading her book on the couch.

Up emerged Gru from the basement, looking satisfied with whatever it was he had just done.

"Whatcha doin'?" Margo asked, startling him.

"Dah! You're home, what time is it?" Gru looked at his watch, knowing Edith and Agnes wouldn't be for another hour or so. Margo asked if she could finally see what was going on.

Gru gave in, finally!

"All right, come down with me," Gru said, ushering her into the elevator to whip them down into the basement. When she emerged, her eyes widened.

"OH, MY, GOSH!" she exclaimed. "Where did everything go? What did you-?"

The lab was completely transformed. Half of it was still for Gru's work, whatever that entailed, but the other half that had been walled off was a whole different room! There was red carpeting, black and white furnature, including a black couch. All the latest gadgets from the TV to the Wii and the Xbox Connect in the corner, which had plenty of room to spare.

There was a tap for soda, a miniature bar of ice and creams to mix any flavor of coffee or tea anyone could desire. Behind the counter were a bunch of nice glasses and a stove with a few countertops.

"The microwave was supposed to be here today," Gru said, gesturing to the blank counter near the mini refrigerator. The royal reds and light fixtures were already taking her breath away as she stared into what seemed like nothing and everything all at the same time!

"Oh my..." she gasped at the corner where there was a nice black bookshelf and the checkerboard tiles that ran behind the counter as she walked on it with her bare feet, excited and entranced by the cold touch on her heels.

Gru smiled seeing Margo approve of the place some more, riling in her own amazement. He turned on the surround sound stereo and the disco technicolour lights. Margo saw the floor light up and the music coming from the walls.

"This is...incredible!" she exclaimed, unable to hold herself in any longer. "When did-?"

"I got rid of a few things," Gru said. "Old technology, and got a nice pretty penny for it too. I thought you girls needed a place to hang out. Problem is, there's only one key so far. I need to have the others made."

Margo stared, admiring the maroon walls and the granite in the countertops and the stools that were just perfect for her and her sisters. She squealed, seeing the desktop and the work station, an Apple laptop on top of it.

"That..." Gru said. "Is for you. I'm having more ordered when Edith starts high school."

Margo gasped, looking back.

"Oh my goodness...Gru!" she jumped into a hug with him. "This is amazing! Oh my God!"

"You can't tell Edith or Agnes yet," Gru said sternly, holding her shoulders. "I only want you to have this key. Edith has a set of ninja equipment on the other side, so that's for her, but this is a space to hang out in, and I know you'll keep it nice."

Of course, Gru had a spare for himself to check up every once and a while, but Margo's face said it all. She was overjoyed.

"So, they can't know about the room? For how long?" Margo asked.

"I'll show them. Don't worry, but yes, this is what I was planning for you girls. I was hoping _you_ could use it. I know you share a room already, being in high school and all, I know how much you wanted your own room..."

"This is so much better!" she exclaimed, spinning around and landing on the circular couch behind her near the gaming station. The couch even pulled out, so she could arrange it however she wanted.

"I can't just not let them down here," Margo said.

"Ah ah," Gru said, waving his right index finger. "No telling. Not yet. Just, tell me what you think of it. Use it by yourself for a little while. I'll let the other two in soon, but you are the oldest, and as such, I believe you need a space too."

"I feel guilty though, all of this to myself?" Margo said. Gru took her around the back, out of the room to reveal Edith's ninja equipment and training ground. Gru had used the remaining space to give Edith a workout space, which probably only the middle child would ever use.

"What about Agnes?" Margo asked, turning to look at Gru after seeing her sister's martial arts stuff.

"She's a bit young for this," Gru said. "I was going to wait until she started to outgrow toys for something like this. I still have some equipment of my own to sell, but most of it shall remain intact. Don't worry, there will be space. And until then, I'm sure you girls are used to sharing."

Margo recognized her new privilege instantly. That key determined whether or not she got alone time. Edith couldn't decided that, as her space was out in the open in Gru's lab. Margo's generosity would of course extend to the other two girls, but for now, this space was hers. She opened the door again, looking at it one last time before locking the door.

"Oh my GOSH!" she exclaimed again, holding her arms to her chest.

"Thank you so much!"

Gru was happy to see that she liked it so much, for he was worried that Margo would have rather had her own room, as she'd been hinting at for the past few months and not giving up. Margo put the key on a keychain and attached it to her skirt's belt loophole. This was exciting.

A space for her and her sisters, and for the time being, just her. A laptop too! All the coffee she could ever want, and in a lovely shade of red. Margo knew Gru would do well as a guardian, but this had blown her mind.

Once more, she picked up her book, nearly unable to read once her sisters got home from school. This was going to be a great year.


End file.
